The Nightmare Man
by Alias XYZ
Summary: Mike, a genderfluid 22-year-old, took the night-shift, hoping to be with his old friends again. They didn't recognize him, yet after a while they stop trying to kill him. However, a deadly figure from the past returns to finish what he started 15 years before. Can Mike earn the gang's trust as Mike Schmidt, AND keep his secret, to defeat this man, or will it all come crashing down?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : Um, hello. Yeah… I have a few stories I want to write but this one just kind of popped into my head.

 **Note:** I believe completely that Mike is male, however for the purpose of this story I'm making him genderfluid. This means he switches between genders based on how he feels that day. He mostly goes with **male** , but he was actually born **female.** There WILL be a reason for this.

 **Note 2:** This disregards FNaF 3, and goes with the _sentient_ animatronics instead of _spirit-possessed_ animatronics.

 **Warnings:** Genderfluid Mike, biologically-female Mike, mentions of transphobia and sexism, hinted past abuse/rape, serial killings.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own ANY of these characters.

* * *

" _Why don't you come out and play, Mr. Puppet?"_

 _Deep blue eyes stared up at the slightly opened box, where the top part of a mask was peeking out, looking down at the girl curiously- it had been many years since he has had a child visitor. The puppet didn't say anything, however, and the girl smiled sweetly at him, thinking he was just shy or scared._

" _It's okay, Mr. Puppet. I'm only eight, I won't hurt you! Promise!" she giggled, her golden curls bouncing with the movement. "Mr. Freddy says breaking a promise is bad, so I won't break it!"_

 _The puppet lifted itself more from its place, but didn't come out. It stared down at the little girl in a pale blue dress. There was a party hat on her head, so it was clear it was a birthday party outside._

 _The little girl's eyes lit up seeing the puppet peek out more. She giggled and opened her mouth to speak- but then the door knob began to turn. The little girl's eyes widened, both in surprise at how fast the box's lid shut and the fact that, if she was caught, she'd be in major trouble. So she quickly ran around the large box and ducked down so she was surrounded by the medium and small boxes, effectively blocking her from view. Quickly she located space between two boxes to peek through._

 _The door opened easily enough and a golden Freddy walked in, four kids trailing behind him. The golden Freddy shut the door behind him and she heard a click she couldn't identify at the moment, and then the man spoke in a soft but deep voice, "Just wait right here, I'll go get it."_

" _Okay!" the children cheered happily, clearly excited for whatever the bear was about to bring them. The bear walked deeper into the storage room, not noticing the little girl hiding behind the slowly-opening box._

 _The bear didn't return. Instead it was a man, a tall man with pale skin and almost-black hair, wearing a crazy grin on his face._

 _In his hand, he held the black hilt of what looked like one of her mother's over-sized knives. One of the ones she wasn't allowed to touch._

 _The children, apparently realizing something was wrong, quieted down and started fidgeting as the man approached._

" _Now listen," the pale man started, casting a glance around (which caused the big box to quickly and soundlessly close again) to assure they were alone. "Don't scream or this will be worse for you."_

 _Of course, the man knew they'd scream, but the storage room was so far from the party room and the walls were too thick for screams to reach even the hallway outside. But the children didn't know that. He grinned maliciously as the children's eyes widened in fear and they gave a shout, running to the doors._

 _None of them could even reach the doorknob. The little girl realized all of them were shorter- younger- than herself, who could just barely reach the doorknob._

 _The man grabbed one of the children, yanking him away from the door and plunging his knife into the child's side. The child shrieked in obvious pain and terror, causing the other three children to shriek. The little blonde girl's hands flew to her mouth, muffling her own cry of fear and horror._

 _She did_ not _want this man realizing she was there._

 _The man stabbed the child in the stomach and chest, and then finished him off by slitting his throat. He leaned over the child, grinning wilder as he watched the child's eyes become glassy and unseeing._

 _The children, having given up reaching the knob, cowered in fear, tears streaming down their faces. The man looked back at them with his wicked grin and lifted his bloody blade. "Who's next?" he asked with a sadistic laugh. The children simply cried harder._

" _Fine, I'll choose!" he declared, and he grabbed the only girl among them- a sandy-haired, brown eyed girl ho couldn't be more than five. She shrieked and struggled, but the adult easily pinned her to the ground. Without hesitance, he began slicing her skin, causing her to scream louder in pain._

 _The little blonde girl wondered why no one was coming to investigate the screaming. She wondered why Mr. Puppet wasn't helping the children. She wondered why Mr. Freddy and their friends hadn't noticed them missing._

 _She covered her ears and ducked down more so she couldn't see the man slicing and stabbing the children, but her hands couldn't block out their horrifying screams._

 _The little girl didn't know how long she knelt down like that, hiding from the murderer, but eventually the screams faded. She lifted her head to look through the space between the boxes, part of her fearing the man would be standing right in front of her, but instead she saw the man leaving the room, closing and locking the door behind him. The four children all lay very silent and still in a large puddle of shiny red._

 _With a deep breath, she leapt to her feet and ran over to the children, dropping down to her knees in the puddle of blood. She didn't care about it staining her pretty blue dress, didn't care as it got all over her hands as she tried to shake the children awake._

 _Tears fell from her wide eyes, unable to comprehend what was wrong. "Wake up, wake up," she begged the glassy-eyed children. After a few moments, she stopped shaking them and looked up at the puppet, whose box was almost completely open. "M-Mr. Puppet, please wake them up," she pleaded, and the puppet just looked at her, somehow looking sad despite its fixed expression._

 _It couldn't wake the children, it had learned that many, many years before, the first time. All it did was cause more pain. But the little blonde-haired girl didn't know this. How could she? With such innocence, an innocence so brutally taken from her…_

 _The girl only began to cry harder when she finally understood the meaning of that look- he couldn't help the children._

 _Then, suddenly, the door flew open and the man was standing there with a mop and bucket. The little girl whirled around, looking up at the surprised man._

" _What the hell?" the man quickly dropped the bucket and mop, slamming the door shut behind him. "Dammit!" he cursed, grabbing his knife from his pocket._

 _Terrified, she made to stand but tripped over the little boy's body, falling on her back in the blood. She began crying, scrambling to back away and accidentally flinging blood around- hitting her hair, her face, the corpses, the floor, a few boxes…_

" _It's too bad, you're such a pretty little thing," the man noted, eying her blonde curls. "Too bad for you you'll never grow up!"_

 _The man lunged at the little girl, his knife arching down. The little girl shrieked and threw her hands up to try and defend herself, but the blow never came. Once she realized there was no pain, the little girl opened her eyes and stared, shocked, as Mr. Puppet seemed to wrestle with the crazy man, claw-like fingers curled around the knife-wielding hand and face seemingly twisted in rage._

 _Although the puppet hadn't helped the other children, she felt so, so glad that he had helped her. She scrambled to her feet and raced for the door, causing the tall man to snarl and throw the puppet off of himself and hurry after her. Thankfully, the little girl realized the door wasn't locked and yanked it open, running out just before the knife crossed where her neck had been._

 _Not even thinking about the children celebrating and having a good time, just as she would have been doing if she hadn't snuck away, she ran straight for the party room. She was screaming for her friends, for her parents, for Mr. Fazbear- anyone!- but she couldn't be heard over the band's performance and the children laughing and playing._

 _However, the moment she ran through the door, screaming for help, she had people's attention. The band abruptly stopped playing, staring in shock at the little girl they had become so fond of covered in red, and children were confused as their parents started crying out in horror._

 _Quickly, her parents ran over to her along with management, and she fearfully clutched at her mother's skirt, unknowingly leaving small, bloody handprints as she cried. "I'm sorry, mommy," she wailed, the silence in the party room enabling every person and animatronic to hear her fear and grief. "I won't sneak off anymore! I promise!" she cried. "I don't want the bad man to hurt me!"_

" _Bad man?" The manager, Mr. Fazbear, knelt down so he was level with the little girl. "What bad man? Calm down, we need you to tell us what happened."_

 _It took a few moments to answer, but finally she said, "The bad man in the gold Freddy suit."_

* * *

She had only been allowed to go back to Freddy's a handful of times after that once they reopened, but each time she ended up scared and crying, and Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy were all unable to help cheer her up or calm her down. Of course, none of them could forget what happened either, could forgive themselves for not noticing another "animatronic" in the room, luring children away… and not even realizing their own beloved child had disappeared.

Her parents finally drew the line when Foxy attacked an employee working the day shift, unaware that the man perfectly matched their daughter's description of the murderer. She hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye to them before she was forbidden from ever returning.

However, that was all in the past. Many things had changed- her relationship with her parents, her economic status, the nightmares, the animatronics, and, most importantly, she herself.

She stared at herself in the mirror, her once-bright blue eyes looking back at her with an emptiness that, once upon a time, would have scared her. However, it seemed to match her limp blonde hair, now cut "like a boy's" as her mother always sneered, and the purple bruise-like bags under her eyes.

When she had returned to her home town, she had been so excited to see Freddy's was still in business using the old animatronics, and she had hoped they'd still be the friends she remembered fondly. However, she was an adult, she wasn't allowed in the restaurant without children…

So she became an employee. She became the night guard.

Biggest mistake ever.

She quickly found out that things had changed big time. All of her hope and excitement vanished as she realized she had simply walked back into another nightmare… but still she couldn't bring herself to quit. Even if they were trying to kill her, she was happy to simply see them again, even if their lack of care and disrepair saddened her. Especially Foxy.

It had been a whopping three months since she started working there, and one and a half months since the animatronics had simply stopped going for her. At first, she'd been hopeful that they recognized her, but the moment she caught one of their eyes she had seen such hatred that she quickly cast aside any thought of talking to them.

After all, if her own parents could hate her, surely her old and only friends could too.

Running a hand through her short hair, she sighed. "Alright then," she muttered to herself, straightening up and looking herself over. The uniform was slightly baggy on her, effectively hiding any feminine curves that would show through the binders.

Giving _him_ self a cocky smirk that didn't come close to reaching his eyes, he told himself, "Looks like you're ready for work, Mike Schmidt."

He headed towards the door, completely unaware of the man outside his window.

* * *

Freddy looked around at his band mates and then across the room towards Pirate Cove, where his gaze remained. It wasn't yet midnight- it was barely past eleven- but Freddy didn't really care at the moment. No one was there to see him moving before the so-called "free-roam mode" activated.

Free-roam mode didn't even exist, but it helped the parents feel like their children were safe… so the band played along. No matter how much it hurt them to do so.

Foxy, as if he felt Freddy's gaze, poked his head out of the curtain, looking over at him questioningly. "Somethin' be th' ma'er, mate?" he called over to Freddy. Freddy shook his head slightly.

"No," he assured the concerned red fox. "I was simply lost in thought."

"What about?" Chica asked curiously from next to him, shifting to turn towards him.

"About how boring the last entire _month_ has been?" Bonnie put in snidely, crossing his arms. Freddy rolled his blue robotic eyes, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like _here we go again_. "Seriously, I still think we should be trying to get at that guard. What if he hurts our children?!"

"Bonnie, he stays in 'is office and neva' comes durin' the day. We can easily keep 'im away from our children," Freddy reminded the bunny, his voice lilting with its slight country accent. "Besides, we threw all we had at 'im and 'e still sticks 'round. We simply have to accept it."

"I still don't like it."

"None o' us do, laddie," Foxy called over. "He be makin' me jumpy, he be! Really, we don' be needin' no guard!"

Freddy's ears twitched suddenly. "Places everyone, someone's comin'."

The animatronics all shared a confused look, but scrambled back into their "default" positions as the object of their conversation entered the room.

Mike looked over towards the animatronics on stage and sighed, completely unaware that they were watching and listening to his every movement and word. He had come in very early- 11:20- and he couldn't really understand why he did. Perhaps it had something to do with what he saw on the news channel earlier that morning when he got home, or maybe he was just feeling… nostalgic, and he just wanted to pretend.

Whatever it was, he simply watched the animatronic band, reminiscing about the good old times he would visit as a child… Before the murders and Bite happened.

"They're saying they caught him, you know," Mike suddenly said, surprising even himself. "Fifteen years and apparently they finally caught him, in California. He'll probably get the death penalty, too." Then, more to himself as he headed down the hallway, completely unaware of the animatronic eyes following him, he added, "Finally the nightmare can end…"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so happy with the reception this has gotten already, it's much more than I was expecting! Thanks, guys!

* * *

 _December 23_ _rd_ _, 1984; Mike, age 5_

 _It was the week of Christmas, and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was in the holiday celebration mode. The band sang Christmas songs and song parodies, Foxy's adventures centered around family and fun, and the party room was decorated with red and green. A large green banner hung up, declaring in beautiful gold text "Merry Christmas!"_

 _Children ran around and laughed as they played their Christmas themed games and ate their pizza. Parents watched their children playing as they sat at the tables, simply happy to see their children so happy._

 _The animatronics stepped off stage to make the rounds with the children, but Foxy's attention zeroed in on a little blonde girl who stood out from the crowd._

 _It wasn't her curly hair that caught his attention, nor was it her pretty Christmas dress. She wasn't calling his name either, like several other children. No, what caught his attention was that she was sitting, all alone, at one of the tables without even so much as a smile._

 _Foxy couldn't help but feel confused. Why was a little girl sitting all alone without even a parent? And why did she look so sad when it was Christmas at Freddy's? Glancing over at the other animatronics, Foxy saw that they were already preoccupied with several children each, so he decided to take matters into his own hands, and careful not to step on any children, he made his way over to the sad little girl._

" _Ahoy thar, li'l lassie," he greeted the girl, who looked up, her blue eyes widening in surprise. "What be ye doin' here sittin' all by yer lonesome?"_

 _The little girl looked down again and sniffled a bit, saying, "The others don't like me."_

 _The animatronic blinked, a bit surprised himself. "Now I'm sure tha' don' be true, lassie."_

" _It is. Even mommy and daddy didn't stay and the other kids said I can't play with them."_

 _Foxy frowned, glancing over at a large sign with a list of rules, one of which being to not leave your children unattended. "Wha' be yer name, lassie?"_

" _Michaela Schmidt."_

 _Although his programming was telling him that he should take the child to management so they could find her parents, since children are required to have a parent nearby, he found he simply couldn't send her home when she looked so sad. "Well, Michaela," Foxy started, kneeling down so he wasn't towering over the small child, "I like ye. So why don' ye come join me crew an' be me firs' mate, aye?"_

 _Michaela's eyes widened and Foxy was very proud to see a small smile starting to break out. "Really?"_

" _O' course! A cap'n be needin' a firs' mate after all, lassie!" Foxy offered her his hand, and the girl was all too happy to take it, though her hand was hardly big enough to even wrap around one of his fingers. He was careful not to squeeze her hand too hard as he led her back towards Pirate Cove to play._

* * *

Mike watched the security cameras boredly, his left hand propping his head up on the desk. His camera was focused on the party room where he could see all four animatronics gathered together. It wasn't an unusual sight anymore- the first time he had started freaking out, expecting them to gang up like they did with the guy on the phone- so he didn't really pay it much attention.

He glanced at the time, seeing it was a quarter 'til two AM. "Wow, I never knew how boring this would be without you guys trying to kill me," he muttered, watching the animatronics again. "Or without you guys at least _talking_ to me. Gee, talk about rude."

With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "Who would break into this place anyway? It's not exactly booming business anymore…"

Of course, fate simply loved to prove him wrong. He heard glass smashing from the entrance hall and closed his eyes. "You just love laughing at me, don't you?"

Quickly he started flipping through the cameras, noticing that the animatronics had scattered and returned to their places, but he couldn't see anyone human. He groaned and grabbed a flashlight, stood up, and walked out into the hall. The dim lighting and the childish drawings on the wall, plus the fact that there were killer animatronics and possibly an armed robber inside, made his heart rate pick up as he walked towards the party room.

Throwing a glance up towards the stage just to be sure, Mike began towards the entrance. Just as he expected, the glass door had been smashed inwards, and the shattered glass crunched under his boots. However, there was no one there. He returned to the party room, shining his light around, but upon seeing nothing there, he went to check other rooms that had blind spots in the camera (minus backstage- he could hardly _look_ at that door, forget going _inside_ ).

They were all empty.

Back in the party room, Mike glanced around. He noticed the band watching him, not too subtly either, and he sighed. "I gotta call the cops, I guess," he said, speaking loudly enough for the animatronics to hear. "I can't find 'em."

With that said, he turned around and walked down the hallway again, unaware of the red blinking light on the security camera.

Freddy, however, _did_ notice the light, watching how it switched between cameras depending on where the guard was standing. That meant the intruder had somehow made it to the security room without being seen… by the guard _or_ the animatronics.

It worried Freddy, but not because of the guard. No, he worried that the man wouldn't be found before opening and that the intruder would hurt one of their children. He exchanged a glance with Bonnie, who had clearly noticed the active cameras as well. The bunny seemed to be frowning.

Bonnie spoke, his voice low and quiet so as not to be heard. "What are we going to do, Freddy?"

The lead singer turned his attention back towards the party room camera, which wasn't active at the moment. "The guard's callin' police. We probably ain't gonna be openin' tomorrow."

Bonnie's ears drooped slightly and Chica made a small whining sound, but neither of them protested. They understood that the safety of the children came first.

Back with Mike, he entered the security room and took his seat at the desk. He reached for the phone… but then he heard the whoosh of doors.

"Well isn't it nice to see you again," a chilling, and very familiar, voice drawled. Mike's eyes widened and he jumped up, whirling around to face a taller, paler man with dark hair. His mouth was twisted into that grin that had haunted Mike's dreams for fifteen years…

Mike opened his mouth to let out a shout, but the man's hand was over his mouth in an instant. "None of that, child," he laughed, grin widening. "Can't have your old friends getting curious, now can we? After all," he pointed at his forehead, where Mike could just barely see scars, "I'm pretty sure they'll recognize me, hm?"

The guard tried to bite down on his hand, but the guard simply laughed at that. "You never were very smart. Your marks in school reflected that very well." Mike's eyes widened slightly- how would this horrible man know what kind of marks he'd gotten in school? "I believe in your senior year, it was, what- a C in Spanish, B minus in literature, D in math before that extra credit assignment, and a C plus in science? The only thing you got an A in was art, and even that was a low A. Always doing rush jobs, after all."

Yes. Exactly, even down to the extra credit assignment and the rushed art pieces. That was terrifying. With a heavy shove, Mike finally succeeded to move the man's hand away from his mouth and immediately exclaimed, "You've been stalking me?!"

"I prefer to call it observing my prey," the man laughed, pulling a dagger out and lightly running it across Mike's left cheek, just barely leaving a scratch welling with small beads of blood. He grinned slightly, enjoying the fear in Mike's big blue eyes. "You shouldn't have cut your hair, Michaela. You always had such beautiful hair."

Mike did _not_ like where this was going, so with all of his strength he shoved the nightmare man away and kicked his legs, downing him for a moment. The murderer cursed loudly while Mike slammed his hand on the west hall door button. The moment the door was open, he raced out of the room.

Funny, Mike couldn't help but think. He'd prefer to be surrounded by the animatronics that had tried to kill him than face a human that had tried to kill him. To be fair, he reasoned, his would-be murderer had apparently been stalking him.

"Get back here, you little bitch!" the murderer shrieked, and Mike could hear his footsteps echoing around him.

The man was fast, he realized. Very fast. Faster than he himself was. _Shit._

Mike skid to a stop next to the supply closet and yanked it open, grabbing the first potentially useful thing he could find- a bucket and mop, he briefly noted- and whirled around, raising the bucket in time to avoid getting a knife in the chest. Without hesitation, Mike shoved the handle of the mop into the pale man's gut with all of his strength, causing him to double over in pain. Mike took advantage of this to run away again, racing into the party room. He only took a moment to notice the animatronics' seemingly shocked expressions- apparently they had heard the commotion.

"No time to explain!" he shouted at the animatronic as he ran for the entrance.

"You're not going anywhere!" the pale man cried from right behind, and Mike felt something hit his back, sending him flying to the floor. He realized _very_ quickly that the man had just thrown a _chair_ at him. A _chair!_

Mike tried to scramble to his feet and grab something to protect himself with, but the pain exploded in his back and he gasped. Biting his lip, he forced himself to his feet and spun around- but only for a moment. He felt himself being tackled to the ground, which his back did not appreciate at all. He groaned in pain and tried to push the man away.

"You're insane!" Mike shouted, trying to fight the man and shove him off. The man pulled his hand holding the dagger back and started to bring it down, but Mike quickly caught his hand with both of his, struggling to hold it back.

Not only was he fast, he was _strong._

"Yes, I _am_ insane, I've heard it all before!" the man laughed, moving his free hand to Mike's throat in an attempt to get him to release his knife hand. "You're fifteen years overdue, you little shit!"

Mike briefly noted movement in the background- the animatronics had begun to move off of the stage. He couldn't see Pirate Cove from where he lay on the ground, with the insane nightmare man straddling him and preventing him from moving, but he could clearly hear the sound of metal on tile and could only assume the fox was joining his friends.

' _Are they going to help me?'_ Mike suddenly thought, still trying to fight this battle he _knew_ he couldn't win. But then he thought, _'Or do they just want a front-row seat?'_

Either way, Mike realized he wasn't the only one who noticed the movement. The hand on his throat tightened and the man's head jerked up, looking over his shoulder. The man snarled at them and shouted, "Back off, you fuckers!"

He couldn't breathe at all, and a roaring entered his ears, preventing him from hearing whatever else the man might have said. His strength failed him, but when the dagger came down, the man had twisted around so much to look at the four animatronics that his aim went off to the side and hit his arm instead of his chest. If he could, Mike could have hissed and cursed in pain, but all he could manage was a wince.

' _I am so dead,'_ he thought to himself right before his vision turned completely black.

* * *

" _Get back here, you little bitch!"_

The shout startled the three band mates, and their attention snapped to the west hall. From the stage they couldn't see down the hallway very well, but they could hear footsteps, a door slam, something that sounded oddly like breaking plastic, and then more footsteps.

Then the security guard ran out into the party room, his wide eyes immediately turning to the stage. Blue eyes met blue. Freddy felt a whirring in his head when their eyes met, but it was very brief and he couldn't figure it out before the man had turned away, racing towards the entrance. "No time to explain!" he had shouted, but Freddy could see the attempt was in vain. A tall, pale male raced in from the west hall as well and grabbed a chair, hoisting it up.

"You're not going anywhere!" the man, who looked suspiciously familiar to Freddy, screeched as he hurled the chair, which hit the guard square in the back and sent him down to the floor.

Freddy continued watching the altercation before he noticed Foxy poking his head out of his curtain. Freddy turned his head to look at Foxy, and Foxy turned to look at him as if, once again, sensing his gaze. There was a fierce look in his eyes, a look that seemed to say, _"That's the man, Freddy! The bad man in the Freddy suit!"_

Why _that_ was what Freddy felt that look was saying, he honestly didn't know, but looking back towards the man who seemed to be strangling the guard as well as trying to stab him, he could see it very clearly. Tall, pale skin, dark hair, and- though Freddy couldn't see the man's face, he could clearly imagine it- a crazed expression.

If there was a scar, they'd know for sure.

He turned to look at Bonnie, who seemed shocked, then turned to look at Chica, who seemed to be getting angry. He wondered if they had realized the identity of the guard's attacker.

Without asking any questions, Freddy began moving towards the stage stairs. Bonnie and Chica, though they were a little surprised, were quick to follow their leader.

The band met up with Foxy on their way to the fighting men. The man tensed up and looked up at them, twisting his body a bit to glare at them. "Back off, you fuckers!" he snarled at them while tightening his grip on the other man's throat. "This doesn't concern you! We have some unfinished business and you won't stop me again!"

Freddy watched as the guard's own defensive grip loosened and eventually slipped, and the knife finally was able to go down. Instead of hitting its mark, however, it angled off to the side and hit the guard's arm, slicing through the sleeve and skin easily. The guard only winced before finally going still. Freddy didn't know if the man was dead or unconscious. It didn't really concern the brown bear too much- what concerned him was the person who attacked and possibly killed the guard.

Clear as day, they could see a scar retreating into the man's hairline.

With a dangerous growl, Foxy stepped forward. "Ye bloo'y bilge rat," he growled at the man, raising his hook threateningly. "We ough'a be spillin' ye guts 'cross th' floor, we ough'a!"

The man, they all knew, was terrified of them. Had been since before Foxy even bit him. Therefore, Foxy's threat was very effective. His hand retreated from the guard's throat and he scrambled to his feet, brandishing the bloodied knife at them as though that could protect him.

"You're breakin' the rules," Freddy stated matter of factly as he stepped towards the murderer. This was their chance to get revenge, he realized, to make sure the children were _safe_! However, before he could reach forward and grab the man, the man jumped back, raced towards the entrance, and was out the broken door.

Foxy, shrieking angrily, chased the man to the door, but he stopped in front of the glass. Their programming wouldn't allow them to leave for any reason whatsoever, so the pirate fox began cursing as he watched the man disappear. "Ye bloo'y coward, ye be'er run 'nd ne'er show ye face 'round these 'ere parts again!"

Chica looked down distastefully at the guard. "Is it dead?" She asked, kneeling down to poke him.

"I don't think so," Bonnie replied, also kneeling down to look closer at the guard. "Look, his chest is moving, that means he's breathing, right?"

"So its windpipe _isn't_ crushed," Chica guessed. "What do we do with it, then?"

"We could always get him out of the way," Bonnie suggested hopefully, looking at Freddy. Freddy simply shook his head, staring at the guard's face.

He couldn't see the man's eyes, of course, but he could remember them when their eyes briefly met earlier. There was just _something_ about those eyes that Freddy couldn't place…

"We'll put 'im back in 'is office," Freddy decided after a few moments. "He shouldn't be out too long, and then he can call them cops he said he was gonna call."

"But Freddy-"

"Bonnie," Freddy's tone was warning, shutting the bunny up immediately. "Thank ya."

Bonnie glanced down at the guard, clearly unhappy, but did as he was told; he picked the guard up and headed down the hall towards the security office. Freddy followed, just to be sure the guard wouldn't have an… accident.

After all, Freddy wanted to figure out what was going on, and he was sure that the guard had some answers to some of his questions.

* * *

When Mike woke up later, he was in his office, slumped over his desk, at half past five in the morning. For a moment he was sure he had simply fallen asleep and had another nightmare… but then he felt the terrible aching pain in his back and his uniform's sleeve sticking to his skin. One glance at his arm and he knew it wasn't a dream.

"So…" Mike started aloud, looking around his office and down at himself. "Why am I not dead?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry, I got put to work doing yard work. Wasn't THAT fun… so I didn't have time to do my daily writing earlier.

I don't really mind yard work. I just didn't have warning so was unable to pull my hair up before going out… Long hair + summer in North Carolina is not fun.

I changed the summary, as I've decided that Mike is going to try and hide the truth, not reveal to them that he _is_ Michaela. This way by the time they know, they're comfortable with calling him Mike/Mikey and understand how much Mike has changed.

The animatronics may come across as a little... thick in this chapter, but they have no reason to think Mike and Michaela are one in the same yet.

* * *

 _It was almost closing time, and the crowds had thinned enough to where there were only a couple of families left. They were each gathering their children together, getting ready to go home. One little girl sat in Pirate Cove with the animatronic fox._

" _It be time t' go home, lass," Foxy told her, hopping off his stage and helping her down with his only hand. "Let's go find th' manager an' get 'im t' call yer folks."_

 _The girl frowned. "I don't wanna go home…"_

" _I be sorry, lass," he apologized, leading her out of the cove. "But it be closin' time, me an' me mates gotta rest." He gestured to the stage, where the band was performing their very last show for the night. Michaela hung her head then looked up at him._

" _I don't know if they want me to go home."_

 _Foxy blinked, straightening up a bit. "Wha'? O'course they be wantin' ye home, lass. Yer their daughter."_

" _Sometimes it feels like they wish I wasn't born…"_

 _Foxy glanced over towards the band. They were now getting off stage to say goodbye to the remaining children. "How 'bout we go meet Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie, lass? I bet they woul' love ye 'bout as much as I do!" he said cheerfully, and he was glad to see her eyes brighten._

" _Okay!" she agreed excitedly, and Foxy lead her over to the band._

" _Ahoy thar, mateys," he greeted them. Freddy gave the last child a hug before sending them back to their parents and turned to look at Foxy. "This 'ere be Michaela."_

 _Chica smiled brightly at the little girl. "Hi, Michaela!" she greeted, kneeling down so she was more level with the blond. "I'm Chica!"_

 _Michaela smiled shyly. "I'm Michaela…"_

Bonnie soon joined Chica in speaking with the child, and Foxy took that chance to speak with Freddy, pulling him aside.

" _Freddy, 'er parents 'aven't been 'ere all day," he told the bear sadly, and they both glanced over at the little girl. "They jus' dropped 'er off earlier… an' from the sounds o' it, she don't 'ave a very good relationship wit' 'em." The brown bear frowned and looked at Foxy._

" _Go get Mr. Fazbear. I'll speak with her for a bit."_

 _Foxy nodded and headed off to do as he was told, quickly locating the manager and giving him a rundown of the situation._

 _When he returned with the manager, he saw the three band members giving her the attention she so obviously lacked at home. He was happy to see how happy she was._

 _He hoped she'd visit them again… with or without those parents of hers._

* * *

Once the police cleared out Mike was left alone with the manager and animatronics, getting ready to go to the hospital to have his wounds checked.

"Are you sure, Schmidt?" the manager demanded, not for the first time. "If it was really _him_ who came in last night…"

"I'm sure," Mike confirmed, heading out the door with his boss. Freddy's wouldn't be opening that day, but people would be coming in to fix the door. He looked through the door as they left and saw the animatronics watching him. He gave a brief wave, which thankfully the manager didn't see, and headed to his car. "I'll never forget his face, Mr. Fazbear. It's been burned into my brain- I have nightmares about him every night. I recognized him just as easily as he recognized me."

Mr. Fazbear jerked back slightly. "What?"

"He recognized me, Mr. Fazbear," Mike told him, looking at the stout man. "He called me Michaela and referenced my long hair. I wish I had seen the announcement on television and not heard it on radio… if I had, I would have known they had to wrong man for the Freddy murders."

"Mike…" Mr. Fazbear sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This isn't good, you know. If he tries to attack you again, you may have to go into witness protection. Entirely new location, identity, history- everything. And if he recognized you as Michaela, you might have to change your physical appearance, too."

"I know, Mr. Fazbear. I just… I hadn't expected him to show up again," Mike said honestly. "I just… I mean, I always feared he would, but I thought… you know."

"I understand. Get to the hospital, Mike, and get some sleep. If I were you, I'd stay with a friend."

"Thanks, Mr. Fazbear," Mike smiled and slipped into his car, not mentioning that he didn't _have_ any friends. Nor any relatives who would take him as he was. He started the car and headed to the hospital.

He still didn't know why the animatronics even let him live.

* * *

Freddy watched as the guard and manager both left the building, the guard giving a brief wave before walking over to his car. Apparently he was saying something to the manager, but Freddy couldn't hear from that distance.

The manager seemed to be very worried, though.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Chica asked curiously, watching as the guard drove away.

"Probably last night's break-in," Freddy answered simply enough.

"Ye'll never guess what I heard!" Foxy called over from his cove. The other three looked over at him, knowing he had been closest to the police and guard as they spoke.

"What did you hear, Foxy?" Freddy asked him.

"Th' guard knew tha' bilge rat were the bad man, he did. Said the guy they got in custody weren't guilty for the murders here 'cause _that_ were the murderer."

Freddy frowned when Foxy said this. "How strange. There was only one witness to the murders, and that was Michaela…"

The group became silent when Freddy said this, remembering the little girl they had become so fond of. Then they all shook their heads, reminding themselves that Michaela was long gone.

"Maybe he knows Michaela," Bonnie suggested. "And she told him what the bad man looked like."

They all looked at each other. Then Freddy said, "If that's possible then we _definitely_ need to speak to this night guard…"

"Do you think we could get a message to Michaela through him…?" Chica asked softly, hopefully. "If… if he _does_ know her…"

"Perhaps…" Freddy answered thoughtfully.

A few moments of silence passed.

"Does this mean we have to get on his good side?" Bonnie asked with a frown.

Freddy looked at Bonnie, then towards the door. He remembered how the guard had waved slightly at them as he left. "Bonnie, I don't think we were ever _on_ 'is bad side. All we gotta do is try 'nd look past the fact he's an adult night guard…"

"…"

"Good luck," Bonnie snorted.

"Gonna be honest 'ere, Freddy, tha' be soundin' near impossible," Foxy agreed. Chica, on the other hand, stared at the door thoughtfully.

"I think I could try," Chica declared with a smile. "I think I could get along well with it! Er… him."

Freddy nodded slightly. "We can try. Either way… I have questions, and I want answers."

Bonnie hesitated a bit before nodding with a sigh. "Me too…"

"So tonight we'll ask it- sorry, him!- some questions and try our best to get along?" Chica asked brightly- always a positive chicken, she was…

"Yes. We shall try… but we can't kill 'im," he added, giving Bonnie a look. "He might be our only key to gettin' revenge on the real killer." Freddy turned to look at Foxy, pretending he didn't hear Bonnie's muttered protests. "Understood?"

"Aye, cap'n!" Foxy grinned, giving a mock solute (which resulted in Freddy rolling his eyes). "Try t' get along wit' th' lad, don't be killin' 'im, ask 'im our questions. Got it!"

"It'd be easier to just tie him down to a chair and _demand_ he answer our questions," Bonnie pointed out. "He'd give us the answers, he'd be too scared not to."

"Or he'd be too scared to talk," Chica countered. "That happens to humans sometimes, doesn't it Freddy? They like… freeze in fear or something like that?"

"Somethin' along them lines, yes," Freddy agreed. "No tyin' 'im up, we need 'im to at least partially trust us. We want 'im to answer our questions… and if he _does_ know Michaela, we need to get a message through 'im to 'er."

Bonnie sighed but nodded in understanding. "Right, right… and if he's terrified of us, he won't even tell her about us. I know, I know."

"It'd be nice to see Michaela again," Chica sighed, looking up towards the ceiling.

"You are all blind."

The calm, deep voice echoed through the room, causing all four animatronics to snap their heads towards the door leading into a side hallway _none_ of them ever walked.

Freddy's brows raised, staring at the marionette that they very rarely ever saw. He seemed to have strung himself up from the now-open doorway, staring towards the band and sometimes flicking his gaze to Foxy. "What do you mean, Marion?"

Slowly the marionette shook his head. "Don't look for long curls and party dresses. Michaela is all grown up, you know. She is bound to have changed."

"'Ow ye be knowin' 'bout Michaela's curls 'nd dresses?" Foxy asked, stepping out of his cove slightly to get a better look at Marion. Marion turned his gaze on Foxy.

"Because she was speaking to me that day," he said simply. "When the "bad man" came to us again, to spread more grief in our names." The band and Foxy all exchanged looks, obviously confused and surprised. This was news to them.

"Why didn't you mention this before, Marion?" Chica asked, looking back towards the marionette.

"It didn't seem important," he replied. "She got out safely. The small details didn't matter. I never expected you four to be stuck on small details, you can't even see the picture as a whole." His eyes seemed to zero in on Freddy. "You're on the right track though, Freddy. Keep thinking about it."

They watched in silence as the puppet dropped from the doorway and began making his way back to his storage rooms. The door slowly closed as he left it.

"I don't… get what he was talking about," Bonnie spoke after a few minutes of silence. "What are we missing?"

Freddy frowned, thinking. "I think he's sayin' we _have_ seen Michaela… but we're…"

"So caught up in the small details from fifteen years ago that we don't recognize her now?" Chica finished.

All four animatronics fell into a thoughtful silence. When the repairmen came to fix the door, Foxy dashed back into his cove, but other than that no one moved or spoke for the rest of the day.

* * *

Mike was only half surprised when he got home to find his apartment completely trashed and police investigating the noise complaints neighbors had filed.

"Are you Michaela Schmidt?" a voice asked, causing Mike to jump in surprise and turn around to look at the police officer.

"U-uh, yeah. I go by Mike now, though," he answered. The police officer didn't look impressed, and Mike instantly knew he would be one of _those_ people.

"Ms. Schmidt," the officer began, pointedly ignoring how Mike grit his teeth, "do you know anyone who would have broken into your apartment?"

"Oh, only a psycho killer who failed to kill me when I was a child and attacked me last night at my job. I've already been through this at work," Mike sighed, pulling his guard cap off and running a hand through his hair.

"Murderer?"

"Yeah, I've already filed the report," he grumbled.

"Look, we still need you to make a statement, Ms. Schmidt."

"Alright," Mike sighed again. _'Guess I'm not getting any sleep today…'_

After a while of answering questions, Mike was sent on his way to a hotel until the police finished investigating the trashed apartment. The blonde wasn't sure whether or not he should be happy about the police keeping an eye on the place. Either way, he decided it was something to bitch about later and instead collapsed on his bed, set an alarm, and fell asleep.

* * *

Foxy's ears perked as he heard the door unlocking and peeked out of his curtain. As he assumed it would be, it was the night guard at the door. He seemed to be struggling a bit to get the door opened, but soon it did open and he walked in.

"…ing psycho, stupid, stupid, why in the world…"

The animatronics all shared a look. They watched as Mike headed back towards the security office, grumbling to himself. "I think he's mad," Chica whispered to the others.

"It would seem so, yes," Freddy agreed. He glanced at a clock, seeing that it was only 11:45. "Let's give 'im a chance to calm down, then we'll try talkin' to 'im."

Foxy tilted his head, listening to the voice echoing down the hall. The muttering stopped eventually, and when they did Foxy crept out. He ignored Freddy's gaze this time, instead focusing on keeping his steps quiet as he walked down the hallway and getting past the camera's view as fast as he could without making noise.

When he reached the door, he slipped into the blind spot and peeked into the room. The guard was slumped over his desk, his face in his hands. The tablet wasn't even turned on and sat, untouched, on the desk.

The animatronic fox watched silently. After several silent minutes, the guard sat up and tossed his cap on the desk, running a pale hand through his short, curly blond hair.

"Hasn't this been exciting?" he laughed humorlessly, staring at the ceiling. Then he finally picked the tablet up and turned it on, switching straight to the party room where, unsurprisingly, the band members had gathered. "Huh… where's Foxy…" the guard mumbled and began switching through the cameras. He got to the cove and noticed the curtains were open.

Foxy ducked back into a shadow when the guard turned the light on to peek out. He frowned.

"Where did that fox go," he grumbled, shutting the light off and dropping back into his chair. Foxy suddenly felt a grin start to form on his face- it would be just so easy and amusing to pop his head in and-

"Hello there. Did you like the gift I left you?"

The guard jumped up from his seat and stumbled back, turning to look at the east hall doorway at the bad man. All amusement vanished and Foxy's expression twisted into a snarl, ready to run in and attack the bad man. However, something stopped the fox, and all he could do was watch.

"What the- how did- seriously, how did you get in here?!" The guard threw his hands up in the air then tugged at his hair.

"I have my ways," the tall man laughed, leering at the guard. "Now now, don't tug at your hair. If you survive long enough, you should grow it out again. Look like your old self, my dear." His grin grew as the guard took another step back. "If you pull it all out, it won't grow back~"

"What are you here for?" the guard demanded, and though Foxy couldn't see his face he could tell the man was scared- his voice wavered just a bit too much.

"I'm not here to attack you," the man answered flippantly. "This time, anyway. I just came back to tell you my decision." His grin widened. "Let's play a game. You're fifteen years overdue for death, my dear. And now that I've got my sights on you again, you won't escape… child or not."

The guard ignored what the man said. "Stop calling me dear. And what the hell do you mean let's play a game? I'm not playing anything with you!"

"You see, _my dear_ ," the man laughed, straightening up and approaching the guard, "You fascinate me. You're strange. You're like me- friendless, loveless, and _different._ It's almost a shame I have to kill you, but you're the only key to getting me arrested." He grinned. "I want to see how long you can survive my hunting you."

"Okay, one, I'm _nothing_ like you, you sicko. And two, I survived a month and a half of animatronics trying to kill me," the guard growled at the man, though Foxy watched his hands tighten into fists as if trying to hide the trembling. "I don't think it'll be hard."

"You silly, silly little girl." Girl? Was that the best insult the bad man could throw at the guard? There was nothing wrong with girls… "You see, the biggest difference between the animatronics and me…" he stalked forward, causing the guard to back out of the door (causing Foxy to quickly back into the shadow). " _I_ don't follow rules."

Foxy saw a flash of metal being pulled out of the man's pocket, and remembering that Freddy wanted the guard alive, he quickly started screeching as loudly and off-key as his voice-box could go. Both humans jumped in shock, turning to the shadow, the tall man dropping his knife in his shock.

"What the hell?!"

"Foxy! There you are!"

The sound of metallic footsteps hurrying down the hall got the murderer's attention and he snarled. "Your metal friends won't always be here to protect you, Schmidt!" he shouted before running through the security office and down the other hallway.

Yep. Still terrified of them, Foxy noted with a grin. The guard quickly stepped back into his office, having realized the other animatronics had come to investigate Foxy's screech, and started reaching for the door button. Foxy reached in and blocked the guard's hand from hitting the button.

"Oh come on!" the guard whined, dropping down into his seat.

"Foxy?!" Chica cried out, worried- this got the guard's attention. "Foxy, what's wrong?"

"Foxy?" Freddy came over, immediately checking the fox over. Foxy rolled his eyes.

"I be fine, ye landlubbers," Foxy dismissed. "Th' guard nearly go' shanked by tha' bad man again."

Freddy turned to look at the guard, and the two simply stared at each other.

Slowly, the guard raised a hand as if in greeting. "Um…. H-hi?"

Bonnie narrowed his eyes at the guard. Then, quickly remembering that he was supposed to be friendly, he forced himself to smile- looking more like a grimace, really- and said, "Hi! How ya doing?"

The guard's eyes slowly widened and he looked at the four animatronics. "Uh… what?"

The bear looked at Bonnie, who shrugged in response. He turned back to the guard. "What's your name?" the bear finally asked him.

OoO

Mike stared in shock at the four animatronics, completely unsure of what to say. Could he tell them the truth? Could they even _understand_ the truth? He doubted they'd believe him…

"Um… Mike Schmidt," he finally answered. Foxy's ears perked.

"So I did 'ear th' bad man righ'! 'e _did_ call ye Schmidt!"

"Y-yeah…"

"Do you know Michaela?" Chica asked, getting a look from Freddy. "What? We were all thinking it!"

Oh yeah, no way they'd believe the truth. "Um… yeah, I do," he nodded. "Why…?"

Bonnie seemed to have brightened at the news. "Does she still have her long golden hair?"

"Uh, not exactly. She cut it," Mike answered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. It felt strange talking about himself in the third person… but it wasn't too hard really.

He had mentally separated himself from Michaela years ago, after all.

"That's alright," Chica interrupted whatever Bonnie would say next. "Are you two related?" Mike hesitated before nodding.

"In a way, yeah…"

"Cool! We-"

"Chica, Bonnie," Freddy cut her off. "We are not gonna bug Mr. Schmidt about Michaela. Right now, anyway." He turned his blue gaze back on Mike, and Mike wondered not for the first time how they couldn't recognize him. "Mr. Schmidt, we would like to ask ya some questions, and we want answers. However," he started, giving Bonnie a sharp look. Bonnie immediately shut his mouth. "We understand why you might have some… reservations. So we're extending an invitation for ya to join us in the party room. We promise we won't hurt ya."

Chica nodded quickly in agreement. "We can get to know you! And then you'll be comfortable answering our questions!"

"Um… okay," Mike agreed, albeit hesitantly. He wasn't nervous about them killing him- they hadn't tried in a while, after all- but he couldn't help but feel mental whiplash at how they went from staring silently and dangerously at him to grinning at him, inviting him to... what... hang out?

His eyes trailed over the animatronics- Chica looking excited, Bonnie satisfied, Foxy rather indifferent, and Freddy… thoughtful. When Mike's eyes met Freddy's robotic ones, he found he couldn't look away.

While Chica chattered happily and began walking down the hall with Foxy and Bonnie, Freddy and Mike stayed right there watching each other.

Then Freddy spoke again. "Have we met before, Mr. Schmidt? Before ya took this job, I mean."

Mike slowly nodded his head, as if searching for his words. "I... I used to come here a lot… when I was a kid," he answered honestly, feeling like he simply _couldn't_ lie when he was staring eye-to-eye at Freddy.

Freddy nodded slightly. "I thought so." He gestured for Mike to follow, turned around- breaking the eye contact- and headed down the hall. Mike let out a slow breath.

He wondered briefly if he should tell them the truth, but he doubted they would believe him. He was Mister Mike Schmidt with the short blond hair and the Freddy's uniform… not Miss Michaela Schmidt with the golden curls and the party dresses.

"Are ya comin', Mr. Schmidt?"

"A-ah, yeah! Sorry!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I hope frequent updates like this don't bother anyone…

If you haven't noticed, the murderer seems to have some kind of weird obsession with Mike's hair. And refuses to think of Mike as a male.

* * *

 _The next time Michaela went to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, she was yet again alone. Instead of calling an employee over to have her call her parents, Foxy invited her to join his pirate adventure again. She didn't hesitate to accept the invitation, despite her puffy blue knee-length party dress and little white dress shoes made it hard for her to run and jump around. He stuck right by her side for the entire adventure, wanting to give her the attention he knew she was denied by her own parents at home._

 _Once his adventure was over and the band had started playing, the kids all wandered out of his cove- except for her. She sat down in one of the chairs, awkwardly fiddling with the hem of her dress. Foxy tilted his head slightly and knelt down in front of her._

" _Do somethin' be th' matter, lass?" he asked her, concerned. "Don' ye wanna go see th' band?"_

" _I don't wanna sit with the other kids," she admitted. "I feel weird with them."_

" _Weird?" Foxy blinked in confusion. "Wha' do ye mean, lass?" Michaela looked up at him with her big blue eyes and pouted a bit, looking on the verge of tears. She raised her hand up in a way that looked like she was going to run it through her hair, but she stopped upon remembering her golden locks were pulled into tight pigtails and dropped the hand back into her lap. She looked back down at her hands with a frown._

" _I'm not like them. They're all happy and their mommies and daddies love them and don't force them to wear dresses when they don't wanna. And they laugh at me 'cause of how I talk and that mommy picks out my clothes… they're mean…"_

 _The animatronic had no idea how to respond to the little girl's dilemma. He was quite fond of the cute little dresses she wore, though he did admit to himself that she spoke in a much more mature manner than children her age should. He didn't say that, though. Instead, he said, "It be alrigh', Michaela. Ye be a special li'l lass, aye, bu' tha' don't be a bad thing." He paused, thinking for a moment before continuing. "If ye like, I'll stand wit' ye while ye watch th' band. Then none o' 'em scallywags'll dare say a mean thing t' ye, aye? An' if they do, ol' Cap'n Foxy'll teach 'em a lesson!"_

 _Michaela brightened up a bit and smiled shyly. "Really, Mr. Foxy?"_

" _Aye, o'course, lass!" Foxy gave a single nod and stood back up, offering her his hand as he had the first time he met her. "An' after th' show, ye can talk s'more wit' Freddy, Chica, an' Bonnie."_

 _With a happy smile, Michaela stood up from her seat and immediately grabbed hold of Foxy's good hand. "Okay…!"_

 _Foxy walked her closer to the stage, chuckling softly. "Also, none o' this 'mister' stuff, lass. It either be Foxy 'r Cap'n Foxy!" he stated with a laugh. His ears twitched a bit as he heard Michaela begin to giggle._

" _Okay, Captain Foxy," she agreed with a smile. "You're the best captain!"_

 _He grinned down at her. "Tha' be fer sure, lass!" he agreed. "Tha' be fer sure. Bu' ol' Cap'n Foxy woul' be nothin' wit'out 'is trusted mates an' 'is crew, aye! An' tha' be includin' ye, Michaela."_

 _Michaela giggled and stopped when Foxy stopped walking, looking up on stage towards the band. The trio were in the middle of a fan favourite, something about pizzas and cupcakes and jokes, and the children in the audience were cheering and singing along happily. Even so, Foxy noticed Freddy's gaze flick over to the little girl clutching his hand before switching to the fox himself._

 _Instinctively, Foxy knew what Freddy was asking, and he shook his head in the negatory. The bear's eyes flicked towards Michaela again, then towards the sign listing the restaurant rules before looking ahead again. Thanks to the voice box and the prerecorded songs, he never even needed to stop singing, therefore not giving away their private conversation at all._

 _Only the animatronics could detect the change in Freddy, who seemed a bit frustrated now. Foxy knew the lead singer wasn't frustrated with him or Michaela, of course… he was frustrated with her parents. None of the animatronics could understand why any parent would just leave their child unattended. It made no sense to them. They had all agreed long ago, however, that adults were confusing._

 _None of the children approached Foxy and Michaela. Surprisingly, both were fine with that._

* * *

Almost as soon as Mike took a seat, an awkward silence fell on the group. No one knew what to say. They all glanced at each other while Mike kept nervously running a hand through his hair, something that didn't go unnoticed by the animatronics and only made them slightly more awkward.

"So… how old are you?" Bonnie ventured to ask after the silence became unbearable.

"Ah… twenty-two," Mike answered, unconsciously running a hand through his hair yet again. It was a habit his mother had always hated, but Mike made no attempt to be rid of it. Bonnie nodded slightly in understanding, and another silence fell. The blond fumbled a bit, wanting to avoid the awkward silence, and added, "I'll be twenty-three in about a month…"

"Ooh, your birthday is soon?" Chica immediately brightened up. Mike nodded.

"Yeah, a month and three days…"

"What do you usually do on your birthdays?" she prodded, leaning towards him a bit.

Mike blinked his blue eyes, surprised by her interest. "Um, I usually, I dunno, it's just another day to me really." Chica's mechanical eyed widened- Mike had no idea how they did that- and she gasped as though he had just said something blasphemous.

It was similar to how she reacted the very first time he said he didn't celebrate his birthday. Obviously, though, he didn't mention this.

"Nonsense! Your birthday is _not_ just another day!" she declared, crossing her arms. "What, is it against your beliefs to celebrate holidays or something?"

"Um… birthdays aren't holidays," Bonnie pointed out, huffing when Chica waved his statement away.

"No, it's not. Just… my parents never felt it was important," Mike answered with a small shrug. "Um… is there any reason you guys stopped trying to, you know, kill me?"

Chica and Bonnie glanced at each other before looking at Freddy, who simply chuckled. "You were too hard to catch and you never show up durin' the day. We _were_ goin' to gang up on ya like we did to that one guard, but we all decided it probably wasn't worth the effort. If ya'd ever come in durin' the day though…" He trailed off, and the human understood his meaning perfectly.

"Oh…" Mike didn't know what he had been expecting, but that had pretty much been a confession to purposefully killing the past night guards… he felt like she should be more bothered by that. "Alright…"

"Why'd ye take th' night guard job anyway, lad?" Foxy suddenly demanded, leaning forward and eying him. Mike blinked, looking at the very first animatronic he had befriended as a child.

"Well, see, I had this idea that you guys would remember me," he answered. "And after I realized no, you didn't, I thought to myself, well, I don't want to just leave." He shrugged. "I cared about you guys a whole lot as a kid and I still do, simple as that. Why?"

The animatronics all looked at one another, and Mike had a feeling there was a conversation there that he wasn't privy to. Finally, Freddy nodded slightly. The purple bunny did not seem satisfied, however.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact you have access to rooms non-employees don't and there are children here every day?" Bonnie deadpanned, and if Chica and Foxy's horrified expressions were anything to go by, Mike guessed that they were _not_ supposed to ask that.

Mike scowled a bit. "No. I'm not some sicko, you know. In case you didn't notice, I _have_ a murderer after me."

Freddy stared at Bonnie, whose ears drooped down in response. "Sorry…" Bonnie muttered. "I just wanted to make sure…"

"You know, if you actually asked a murderer that, they'd tell you that has nothing to do with it," Mike pointed out with a sigh. "So technically your question didn't even clear anything up. Look, I know you guys don't trust me, and frankly I don't blame you. I mean… that man was a guard here, too."

Freddy's attention shifted back to Mike, raising a brow. "How do ya know that, Mr. Schmidt?"

Mike blinked. "Um, it was only all over the news?"

After a moment, Freddy shrugged. "Fair enough."

Foxy suddenly jumped up from where he was sitting and declared, "This ain't no way t' get t' know someone! This be feelin' like an interrogation, no' a get-t'gether!"

"Totally," Mike muttered softly to himself. If the animatronics heard, they pointedly ignored it.

"What do you suggest, then, Foxy?" Freddy asked calmly.

"Let's go 'bout our normal routine- th' one when there ain't no nigh' guard. Let 'im join us," Foxy answered simply, waving his hook in the air.

The other three animatronics looked at each other and shrugged, standing from their own seats. "Alright then."

"Works for me," Mike agreed with his own shrug.

"Jus' one more thing," Foxy interrupted before people could wander off, and he pointed his hook at Mike. "Ye go' t' be wit' someone. Don' wan' ye gettin' yeself shanked 'fore we can get t' know ye an' get our answers, lad!"

"Hey… I'm curious, why _is_ the nightmare man so afraid of you guys?" Mike asked before registering what Foxy said. "Wait, what-"

"He isn't the first man who has harmed our children," Bonnie said darkly, glaring off to the side. "He knows what happened to the last one. He knows what we can do if we catch him. Foxy had a perfect chance he didn't take earlier, too…"

"'ey! I coulda hit Mike, an' Freddy wanted Mike alive, ye know!"

"Yeah, well-"

"Okay, I get it…! Sorry I asked… but seriously, I don't need a babysitter-"

"From the way I understand it," Freddy cut him off, "The only reason you're even alive right now is 'cause of our interventions."

"And police…" Mike mumbled, but he knew Freddy was right. They were the ones who stopped the nightmare man from killing him the previous night, without them the police would be investigating his murder, not a threatening, stalking, breaking-and-entering murderous freak…

"Why do you call him the nightmare man?" Chica asked curiously. "We just call him the bad man."

Mike was silent for a few moments before shrugging. "He's haunted my nightmares for as long as I can remember," he simply stated. Before they could ask, he quickly changed the subject- which didn't go unnoticed by Freddy. "So…! What are we doing, exactly?"

"I claim first dibs!" Chica practically sang, effectively diffusing the tense air. "Come on, Mike! Let's go cook some pizza!"

Freddy decided not to call Mike out on his sudden subject change. He'd wait for the human to trust them enough to tell them himself, he decided. It seemed like a touchy subject for the human, Freddy noted.

"Afterwards ye can join me in me cove on an adventure!" Foxy declared with a grin.

Bonnie mumbled something before adding, "And then you can either come sing with me and Freddy or you and I can prank the others…"

"No pranks!" the other three immediately cried out in unison, but Mike had already started grinning. Bonnie, upon noticing the grin, brightened up at the prospect of having a fellow prankster around. Suddenly he decided he liked this Mike Schmidt. The other three simply groaned upon seeing the duo's expressions.

"No' me curtains, lads, no' me curtains…"

"I have no idea what I'll be doin' by the time you're done with all of 'em," Freddy told him. "If'n you two mess up the chairs, we'll be needin' a new night guard _and_ guitarist," he suddenly warned, glaring at the grinning purple bunny. "It takes forever to get 'em straightened out."

"Well, come on, Mike! To the kitchen! And I swear, Bonnie, if you trick me into thinking there's a fire again, I'll stuff you into the _oven!_ "

* * *

When Mike arrived back at his own apartment, which had been thoroughly investigated, cleaned, and cleared out of most things, the next morning, he first checked around for the creepy nightmare man. Then he stripped out of his clothes, down to just his boxers, and collapsed on his bed. He immediately got back up, however, to put a tank top on as he thought about the possibility of the nightmare man breaking in and seeing his bared chest.

He was already creepy enough _without_ seeing Mike's breasts, after all. And if Mike was to die that day, he wanted to die with _some_ dignity left.

The blond man finally crawled back into bed and settled down, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of his home The curtains were gone, so his room was steadily lighting up, but Mike didn't care right then. He was _tired._

The four animatronics had dragged him all around the pizzeria, just like old times… except for, well, the fact that they had no idea Mike was actually Michaela and he didn't have to be careful about accidentally flipping up his dress skirt, but that was beside the point. Although Mike did have fun- he couldn't help but feel like he was on his way to earning their trust as Mike- it seriously tired him out. Between baking pizzas and subsequently making a total mess in the kitchen they then had to clean, going on "pirate adventures", pranking the others with Bonnie, and helping Freddy get everything set up for the day, he had had no time to simply sit and rest. It resulted in him feeling completely exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep.

His raging paranoia and the inevitable nightmare, however, kept him awake and alert. Every little sound in his cleaned and nearly-empty apartment sounded like footsteps or breathing or nails scraping against the wooden walls to him.

Eventually, though, his eyes slid shut and he fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of his old animatronic friends, the nearly-forgotten Mr. Puppet that saved his life, and the nightmare man himself.

* * *

As soon as Mike was gone, Foxy poked his head out of his cove and looked towards the stage. "So, wha' ye think o' 'im?" he asked the band.

"I like him," Chica giggled. "You should've seen him in the kitchen, he almost dropped an entire bag of flour, and then he jumped a mile high when I accidentally dropped a skillet!"

"… Why were you holding a skillet while making pizza?"

"Shush, Bonnie, I just was."

"Alright, alright," Bonnie raised his hands defensively. Then he said, "He's actually not as bad as I thought he'd be… kinda fun to be around…"

"Ye jus' sayin' tha' 'cause 'e 'elped ye pull a prank on Freddy an' was able t' get ye out o' trouble," Foxy accused, flipping his eye patch up in order to narrow both eyes at the bunny.

"No, really! He had some really interesting things- not prank related!- to say," Bonnie defended himself. "He was actually pretty funny. Told me a story about his teenage years, too. It was hilarious."

Foxy huffed a bit. "An' ye were th' one wantin' t' kill 'im yesterday mornin'," Foxy laughed before turning his attention to Freddy. "An' ye? Wha' be ye thinkin' o' Mikey?"

Freddy hummed a bit in thought before blinking and looking at Foxy. "… Mikey?"

"Sounds better'n Mike. Mike be too abrupt like. So I call 'im Mikey! Much better."

Bonnie snickered a bit, his grin only widening when Foxy threw a glare at him. "Sounds like you think he's a child, Foxy."

"'Ey, 'e be playin' an' actin' like one, so-"

"Anyway," Freddy smoothly cut in, stopping the fight before it could really begin. "He seems like a fine young man." He added, "More like a responsible boy," under his breath. "That isn't to say I'll be trustin' him or takin' my eyes off'a him," he added. "We don't know him nearly well enough for that."

"Of course," Bonnie nodded a bit in agreement. "But hey, at least I no longer want to kill him, right?"

Foxy snorted in amusement. "Aye, Mikey be a good lad. Walks a bit funny, though, 'e does. I jus' go' one more question fer ye all."

"What is it, Foxy?" Freddy asked, looking at the fox. The fox's grin faded and he glanced at the floor, as if trying to figure out how to word something. Then he looked back up at them.

"Do any o' ye feel like Mikey's… familiar, somehow?"

The four animatronics fell into silence, each looking as if they were digging through their memory banks. "He said he used to come here…" Chica started.

"So we may have met him before, when he was a little kid," Bonnie finished with a nod. "Must've been here only a few times, though… I don't remember any specific kids except Johnny and Michaela, and obviously neither of them are Mike."

"Yeah…" The others, bar Freddy, all mumbled an agreement and nodded. The bear, however, looked thoughtful.

"Yes, I suppose not…" he said after a few moments of thought. "After all, Johnny ha… had brown eyes and Michaela is a girl." Of course, Johnny was also dead, but Freddy didn't want to say so out loud and upset his friends further. Even so, they all heard it ring through the air as if it _had_ been said.

They all nodded in agreement with his statement, each a bit sad. Whether it was because they were thinking about one of the children who died, their dear little Michaela, or how none of them could remember Mike as a child, they couldn't really say.

Unknown to them, the marionette was listening through the slightly-opened door. He shook his head slowly and started heading back to his storage room, uttering only one word.

"Blind."

* * *

Meanwhile, a tall, pale man sat in a little downtown café, watching as the young college students stumbled in for a morning cup of coffee before throwing themselves into their studies for summer classes. He ran a long, pale finger around the rim of his own coffee cup, staring out the window at the rising sun.

He didn't really know why he didn't just kill Michaela "Mike" Schmidt immediately. He had no idea why he made his presence known, made a show of taunting her… gave those stupid animatronics a chance to notice he was present. _'Perhaps,'_ he thought to himself, _'it was because she is just so much fun. The fear in her eyes, the way she tried to act tough…'_

It was exhilarating having so much power over an adult. Granted it was an adult he knew literally everything about and who had watched him murder four children in cold blood then try to kill _her_ , giving her many nightmares most likely, but an adult nonetheless.

Playing with her was fun. He grinned to himself, turning to look into his coffee. Yes, it was _very_ fun.

' _I won't kill her quite yet,'_ he decided at last, taking a sip of the bitter drink. _'Scare her, hurt her, maybe have some other kinds of fun… scar that pretty, pretty face of hers… Let her live a while in total, absolute fear for her life…'_

His grin widened and he had to duck his head so none of the other patrons would notice how maniacal he looked at the moment.

' _Those animatronic fuckers will just be in the way… but they don't seem to realize who she is,'_ he noted silently, tapping a finger against the table to try and calm himself down. _'They'll find out eventually… I_ do _so wonder how they'll react… will they get mad about the lie… horrified that they nearly killed their beloved little girl? Angry that I'm still trying to? Oh such fun… I wonder what lengths they'd go through to try and save her…'_

Grinning, he glanced at his reflection in the window.

' _I'll wait until after they know… and then I'll make them watch as I torture her for hours with a knife, shards of rotting wood, rusty pieces of metal… maybe inject her with a few toxins and make her writhe in pain… amputate a limb- maybe I'll even put her into one of those old vintage suits from the first restaurant! And maybe I'll even let them hold her dying body in their arms so they can watch the light slip away from her eyes, watch those lovely blue eyes dull and glaze over, lose their sight, let them sit there in a puddle of her blood…'_ His grin widened even more, staring at himself in the window. Funny, even he thought he looked insane… but he didn't care.

' _Oh if only hair could grow in such a short time. I do so wish she didn't cut it. Her hair was quite lovely.'_


End file.
